Final Final words....

Solve:

Dr. Yeap gave 10 cookies to Hannah. Cookie Monster came along and ate 8 of Hannah's cookies. Hannah now has one-fifth of her cookies left. How many cookies exactly does she have now?

10 – 8 = 2 !!

Dr. Yeap, thanks for all.. Many apologies for my late submission of the last few entries.. L

Right or Wrong angle?

h) Geometric Thinking

Geometry relates to spatial sense in recognition to shapes and structures found in the environment. Young children learn about and use their knowledge of two and three-dimensional shapes when given the opportunity to create designs with pattern blocks; draw, paint and cut shapes for their artwork; organize blocks by sorting them; and locate shapes in outdoor settings.

By kindergarten age, children identify, classify, compare and analyze characteristics, properties and relationships of one-, two- and three-dimensional geometric figures and objects. Kindergarteners use spatial reasoning, properties of geometric objects and transformations to analyze mathematical situations and solve problems.

In van Hiele’s levels of geometric thought, early learners belong to the Visualisation Level (Level 0). As they are concrete learners, they engage in observing, feeling, building, taking apart, or working with shapes. Though they may be able to identify some properties of shapes at this level, it is only in an informal, observational manner.

I liked geometry in school, and I can reminisce the times where I would score on that topic as compared to others. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case during Dr. Yeap’s session on geometry.. I realized I lost touch completely! I couldn’t recall the total angles within a pentagon, and kept thinking it was 360º. Another way taught was also to see the triangles within the pentagon, which I don’t know if my eyes were wearing down on me (excuses..) or my memory is failing (ok, it’s the latter..). But still, it was amazing to see that we can actually come up with the formula once we can see the pattern!

Count on Me....

f) Developing Number Sense

One of the basis of mathematics is an understanding of number relationships. Children need to make sense of the ways numbers are used in their everyday world. Number senses and concepts develop gradually over time as young children explore, manipulate and organize materials and as they communicate their mathematical thinking. One of the earliest number concepts is counting. It begins with developing oral counting skills or rote counting. Following this is one-to-one correspondence, where only one number is linked with each item in a set of objects.

I have classified the activities from the text basing on my thoughts of practices in local preschools, as follows:

Commonly practiced:

J  Relationships of More, Less, and Same

J  Early Counting

J  Numeral Writing and Recognition

J  Counting On and Counting Back

J  Estimation and Measurement

J  Data Collection and Analysis

Not Commonly practiced:

L  Anchoring Numbers to 5 and 10

L  Doubles and Near-Doubles

Problem Solving

c) Chapter 3

All young children are problem solvers. As they explore and examine their world, they are attempting to find out how things work. When children involve themselves with various learning opportunities, real problems are posed, and children are guided to use the mathematical processes of reasoning, communicating, representing and connecting to solve them.

To promote problem solving, there must be provision of the environment, materials and experiences for solving problems. Early childhood educators should design the learning environment so it offers interesting problems and an array of materials for children to use in solving them.

It is interesting to read from this chapter that teachers may face the dilemma of how much to tell, when teaching problem solving. I have been caught in situations alike before when engaging children to problem solve, as I was then concerned with the time factor and only wanted to abide by the lesson duration. I was guilty at times then, for providing more information than I should as I was hoping that it would so much help them in deriving to a solution. And yes, I should be convicted for killing their rights to learning to problem solve..

Instead of offering solutions, teachers can help children state problems, provide time to listen and talk about the problems, and connect some of the problems occurring in their lives to mathematics learning. Of equal importance, young children learn powerful lessons when teachers model problem-solving strategies, convey the joys of finding solutions and acknowledge the frustrations during challenging moments (Copley, 2000).

Environment-based Task  < To the Outdoors We Go! >

We brainstormed many ideas on math lessons we can plan for environmental learning, but decided on a measurement activity for Kindergarten 2 level. Here’s what we did at the Burger King fast food outlet at Raffles City Shopping Centre:

 

We planned for children to measure using different given items, compare the data collected, and involve themselves in teamwork. Children will engage in the process of observing, prediction and logical thinking.

Task:

Children are grouped into groups of four. Each group will be given one type of item as a measurement tool. Children will measure selected objects / furniture at Burger King. Record the data collected on a chart. The groups will compare their data collected.

A follow-up activity may include predicting the measurement of a longer or shorter similar object / furniture.